American Press Institute Announces Disruptive Innovation Advisory Program for Newspapers

Washington, DC -- The American Press Institute today announced a groundbreaking program to help selected newspapers take new business ideas from sketchbook to marketplace.

The program was introduced at API's Newspaper Next (N²) Symposium, attended Wednesday and Thursday by 90 newspaper industry thought leaders at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

API's Newspaper Next Disruptive Innovation Advisory Program will provide innovation guidance to three to five U.S. newspaper companies. Newspapers selected for the program will receive advice and consultation from the N² project team over a four-month period, including two daylong sessions with the N² project team and weekly conference calls to review progress.

The chosen projects also will serve as practical demonstrations of the innovation tools and processes under development in the yearlong Newspaper Next project. The cases will be included in the N2's final report and recommendations this fall.

Newspapers participating in the program will work with:

• Stephen Gray, N² managing director and former managing publisher of The Christian Science Monitor


• Scott Anthony, a managing director at innovation consulting firm Innosight LLC and co-author of "Seeing What's Next: Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change."

"So often newspapers have great ideas for new products and services but they get smothered by the core business," said API President and Executive Director Andrew B. Davis. "This program will help newspapers keep their winning ideas on track by offering support from the best and the brightest in the industry as well as the country's leading authority on disruptive innovation."

Newspapers are asked to submit a "disruptive" idea for a new product or service to be considered for the program. A "disruptive" idea offers new benefits to the consumer, such as simplicity, convenience, ease of use or low price. Classic examples of disruptive innovations include the personal computer, discount airlines, Intuit's Turbo Tax program and Procter & Gamble's Swiffer line of products.

Gray, Davis and Harvard Business School professor and innovation strategist Clayton Christensen will review the applications. Newspapers accepted into the program will be announced this spring.

For more information about disruptive innovation and to download an application, visit http://www.newspapernext.org. The deadline for applying is March 1.

Media Contact:
Lisa Rabasca
American Press Institute
11690 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20191-1498
(703) 715-3322
lrabasca@americanpressinstitute.org